Lu Wancheng looked around. “Why don’t you sit on the bed with me?”
“Forget it.” Lin Qingyu said ungratefully. “You can eat on your own. Goodbye.”
Lu Wancheng stopped him. “Wait. I have something to give you. I just looked at the list of wedding gifts, and I noticed one that would suit you quite well.”
Not even having looked at the item, Lin Qingyu replied, “I don’t want it.”
Lu Wancheng clicked his tongue. “At least take a peek and see whether you want it. Hualu?”
Hualu was the other maid who served Lu Wancheng, along with Fengqin, and she was cute and energetic. She brought something over and smiled, saying, “If the young master hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known what this was.”
Lin Qingyu granted it a glance and was stunned at what he saw.
The item Hualu handed him resembled a cloth bag, but it was made of leather; it could be rolled up easily. Spread flat, it was narrow and clearly wouldn’t hold much.
A layperson wouldn’t have been able to tell, but any practitioner of medicine would know instantly that it was an acupuncture bag. The inner layer was meant to hold needles.
Before he knew it, Lin Qingyu had reached out his hand and stroked the soft leather. His long eyelashes trembled and his gaze turned dark.
Lu Wancheng smiled. “Do you like it?”
Most of the gifts sent to a wedding at the marquess of Nan’an’s residence would be from high-ranking officials in the capital. Lin Qingyu picked up the list on the table and glanced over it—the majority of the presents were gold, silver, jade, antique calligraphy, or paintings. A small acupuncture bag didn’t stand out much among all those. Still, of all the gifts, Lu Wancheng had wanted to give him this.
Lin Qingyu looked at the embroidery on the outside. It read Union of Lu and Lin, always of one heart in gold thread. He smiled self-deprecatingly. “Thank you for your good intentions, Young Marquess, but what is the meaning of giving me this?”
Lu Wancheng put his fist to his lips and coughed. “You can use it in the future.”
“Oh? On you?”
Lu Wancheng’s smile faded. He was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean that. I mean…” His tone turned lighthearted. “If you don’t want it, that’s fine, but don’t get upset. Though you’re very pleasing to the eyes even when you’re upset, Physician Lin, it’s not good for your health. As the saying goes, ‘Why make a fuss when it’s a waste of your breath? You can fuss till you die, but no one will praise your death.’”
“I’m not upset,” Lin Qingyu said calmly.
Lu Wancheng waved Hualu over to them.
“What is it, Young Master?” she asked, bending toward him.
“Someone’s upset,” he replied. “But I’m not telling you who.”
Lin Qingyu was speechless.
Lu Wancheng put his finger to his lips and looked out the window. “Shh. That mother of mine is here.”
“Why shush me? You’re the one who talks the most.” Lin Qingyu smiled coldly. “Your mother is probably here to confront me.”
Lu Wancheng stroked his chin. “Let me guess. She wanted you to stay with me as much as possible, but you ignored her?”
In his surprise, Lin Qingyu forgot to be angry. “How did you know?”
Lu Wancheng smiled meaningfully. “I know a lot of things.”
Lin Qingyu mulled that over and smiled abruptly. He rolled up his sleeves and picked up Lu Wancheng’s bowl of half-finished porridge. “I’ll feed you this, Young Marquess.”
“…Oh.”
Outside, Auntie Liu helped Lady Liang into the courtyard. Fengqin approached her, saying, “Greetings, Lady.”
“Where’s the young master?”
“Eating in the bedroom, Lady.”
“Is the young lord with him?”
Fengqin shook her head. “The young lord is alone in the study.”
“Now you’ve been told that too, Lady,” Auntie Liu whispered. “The young lord himself said everything I told you.”
Lady Liang held her hand to the hairpin near her temple. “I trust you, of course. Let’s take a look inside.”
Auntie Liu walked quickly, clearing the way for Lady Liang. “The young master only just woke up last night; he’s in need of someone to serve him. There are maids in his room, but the young lord is his wife; if his husband is sick in bed, how could a wife not tend to him? It’s only the first day of the marriage, but the young lord’s behavior is so insulting already. How could he betray the solemn duty of marriage…?”
The marchioness of Nan’an was known for her gentle temper, but now she frowned and quickened her steps. They rushed into the room as if a fire were burning behind them.
The wedding decorations hadn’t yet been removed, and Lu Wancheng was half sitting, half lying on the wedding bed. Lin Qingyu sat beside him, holding the porridge bowl in one hand and feeding Lu Wancheng with the other. “Here, Young Marquess,” he said.
“It’s a bit hot. Blow on it,” Lu Wancheng teased.
Lin Qingyu narrowed his eyes as if wanting his gaze to poke a hole in Lu Wancheng’s smiling face. But the couple—one of them handsome and sumptuously dressed, the other beautiful and dignified—looked happy and peaceful.
Lady Liang and Auntie Liu were frozen until Lu Wancheng looked over. “Mother, why are you here?” he asked.
Lady Liang furrowed her brow, then relaxed it. “To see how your appetite is,” she said gently, glancing at Auntie Liu.
Furious, Auntie Liu whispered, “Didn’t you say the young lord was in the study?!”
“J-just now, he was,” replied Fengqin, confused.
Lin Qingyu set down the porridge and stood. “But Lady, you already asked Auntie Liu to come here, so why are you now here in person? Simply to confirm that the young marquess was eating well?”
Lu Wancheng smiled. “You came to watch me eat, despite the chill outside? I’m moved, Mother.”
Lady Liang forced a smile. “What mother wouldn’t want to spoil her child? Did you eat the chicken soup I sent, Wancheng?”
Lu Wancheng looked at Lin Qingyu. “I wanted to, but he wouldn’t let me.”
“The books say that one must cleanse the patient’s body of toxins before nourishment,” Lin Qingyu explained calmly. “The young marquess is weak right now, and strong nourishment would only burden his body further. That’s common knowledge, Lady. You knew that, didn’t you?”
Lady Liang’s face darkened. She opened her mouth, stammering, “I-I…”
“Of course Mother knows. But the servants must’ve forgotten to remind her,” Lu Wancheng said, smiling. “Isn’t that right, Auntie Liu?”
Auntie Liu glanced sidelong at Lady Liang. When the lady didn’t return her gaze, Auntie Liu tacitly understood something and grudgingly knelt. “Yes, yes, it was my fault. I should be punished.”
Before Lady Liang could respond, Lu Wancheng asked, “Qingyu, how do you want to punish her?”
“This concerns the young marquess’s body, so to prevent further incidents, we’ve got to give her a slap on the wrist as an example to others,” Lin Qingyu mused, then told Auntie Liu, “According to the manor’s rules, you should be fined three months’ salary and sentenced to a month of hard labor.”
“I think that’s fair.” Lu Wancheng nodded. “However, it’s not my decision. It’s Mother’s.”
Lady Liang forced a smile. “Do as Qingyu said.”
After that, she clearly became distracted; she sat around for a bit, then left with Auntie Liu.
Once they were the only two people left in the room, Lu Wancheng asked Lin Qingyu, “How did Auntie Liu offend you?”
“She forced me to change the way I addressed someone—twice.”
“How so? Did she make you call me husband?”
Lin Qingyu’s expression was as cold as jade. “…Yes.”
“You certainly know how to hold a grudge, Physician Lin.” Lu Wancheng smiled.
Lin Qingyu glared at him, his look sharp as a knife. “Is that funny?”
Lu Wancheng held back a chuckle. “I won’t laugh. But how did you know the manor’s rules?”
“Auntie Liu insisted on telling me,” Lin Qingyu said simply. “I tried to ignore her, but my memory is impeccable, so I had no choice but to learn them.”
Lu Wancheng smiled and said to himself, “Damn. What a flex.”
Lin Qingyu didn’t understand. “Flex? What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that you’re quite good.”